Whatever the eventual future of IT and tech is, one central theme is emerging. Information Technology is following the same principles found in extreme capitalism. On a planetary basis, the economic gap between the have and the have nots has never been as wide as in 2017. Same thing can be said of Tech companies. The disruptors of the 2000’s have become the beneficial dictators of 2018. Reuters recently reported on the number of tech patents filed for 2017, you will note that Africa, as a continent, is so far behind that Africa will never catch up.
Africa is the 99% as far as tech is concerned and the gap is widening with each passing year.
The .01% still owns, registers and controls 99% of all tech patents. This gap too, is growing each year. Which seems to indicate that after 2020 and on a planetary basis, the beneficial dictators of tech will be even more than they are today.
No matter how you analyse the numbers, by country, by company, by group, it still reveals the same trends.
If you look at some of the tech ‘patents’ that are actually being registered, like the ‘foldable’ or flip phone patent filed by Apple, it becomes clear that many patents are simply filed, and filed in such a way, (as) to prevent anyone else from developing new technology.
It also is extremely unfair, economically, to expect Africans and poor societies to pony up the $$$ required to file a patent. Africans are practically and effectively excluded from participating in the planetary game called the International patent system.
The 2018 outcome is that Africa, as a continent, is completely dominated, controlled and owned by other countries. Africa has no hope, no chance and no opportunity to escape the vicious spiral it finds itself in. Anytime any real talent emerges, that talent is lured and taken elsewhere. Even where Africans developed leading edge technology, that technology has either been purchased or watered down or simply acted against.
So, for 2018, the future of tech in Africa is as bleak as it has ever been.